A Crawley cab firm has promised to investigate after a disabled Pound Hill woman was left “outraged” when she witnessed a taxi driver pick up a couple who had parked their car near her home before going on holiday.

On September 15 Laura Hunt was trying to get into her garage on Haywards when she saw a couple park their car opposite her home and a Metro Cars driver pull up beside them, mutter something before turning round and then loading the holidaymakers’ luggage into his car and driving off. Mrs Hunt, who suffers from fibromyalgia, believes the driver shouldn’t have picked the couple up once it became clear what they were doing.

She said: “I couldn’t believe people were actually so rude as to use our road as a free car park.” Mrs Hunt added that the following Thursday she was lying ill in bed when her husband came up and told her that he had seen a taxi pull up behind the white car that had been parked there.

She said: “He watched the same couple get out of the same people-carrier-style car and get their luggage and get into their own car. “I have been unable to get in and out of my drive safely quite a few times over the last few weeks from the amount of cars that seem to keep parking up and down the street.

Spilling out

“I do feel outraged that a local company would [treat] their own local customers [this way]. We have enough issues with parking around Crawley as it is without the Gatwick car parks spilling out on to our roads.”

Responding to the concerns, a Metro Cars spokesman told the Crawley News that sometimes holidaymakers make arrangements with local residents to park outside their homes.

He said: ‘At times we do get lots of jobs from people parking up their cars. Sometimes there is an arrangement in place to park their car.”

When asked if the taxi firm would be investigating this particular incident and reiterating to drivers not to encourage holidaymakers to park in residential streets, he added: “Of course. We will look into any incident and investigate.”

Speaking to the Crawley News last month about a similar issue in Pound Hill, Councillor Kevan McCarthy said parking is an issue across the town, but feels that his ward in particular suffers from holidaymakers leaving their cars there before heading to Gatwick.

He said: “It is perhaps the single biggest issue and concerns a lot of people in the town. Airport parking would seem to be a contributing factor to this problem. In Pound Hill we notice it when a car parks up on our road and stays there for weeks, and then a taxi pulls up and the car drives off.

“People understandably want to park For free because it is quite expensive to park at Gatwick Airport, so parking in a nearby neighbourhood and getting a taxi is sometimes much cheaper.

“But people who are not from the area aren’t as considerate when they do park, they are often against the clock so don’t always park well. It means bin lorries can’t get up certain roads, and people lose their parking space.”

Plans to extend parking restrictions on a busy stretch of road have been given the thumbs-up despite some objections from residents.

Restrictions will be extended at the south end of Grattons Drive, Pound Hill, in an attempt to ease parking congestion and improve safety.

A meeting of the East Crawley County Local Committee on November 18 was told nine objections to the scheme had been received.

But the committee felt the benefits to the community outweighed the concerns raised.

The scheme became necessary after restrictions were put in place in Worth park Avenue and Milton Mount Avenue, leading to drivers parking in Grattons Drive instead. The bottleneck caused by the sheer number of cars led to congestion and some impatient motorists endangering the safety of pedestrians by driving on the footpath to get through.

The meeting was told some of the objectors actually supported parking restrictions but felt the proposal for Grattons Drive was not enough.

The restrictions will include extending the double yellow lines just north of Milton Road and introducing single yellow lines, to limit the times people can park, outside homes on the west side of the road.

Objectors felt the latter would simply shift the problem to the east side of the road and asked for a single yellow line to be placed there as well.

Residents in Pound Hill have been left perplexed at proposals to put parking restrictions down just one side of their road.

West Sussex County Council is planning to extend double-yellow lines currently on Grattons Drive for a further 50 metres to the north of its junction with Milton Mount Avenue.

Then single yellows are planned to take over from where the double-yellows stop, restricting parking during the week.

But both of these proposals apply just to the western side of Grattons Drive.

The idea behind the double yellows is to “improve visibility for all road users”.

It is hoped the single yellows, which will prohibit parking from 10 to 11am and from 2 to 3pm, Monday to Friday, will stop commuters leaving their cars on Grattons Drive and walking to Three Bridges station.

But Julia Tyas, who lives on Grattons Drive, feels that the proposals – which until August 6 are subject to a public consultation are “crackers”.

The 54-year-old said: “My husband and I and my neighbours feel that all they’re doing by putting the lines down one side of Grattons Drive is encouraging people to park on the other side of the road. So they are not getting rid of the problem – they are just moving it from one side of the road to the other.”

Mrs Tyas’ husband David, 57, has made the couple’s feelings known by responding to the county council’s consultation.

One of the couple’s neighbours, Brenda Taylor has also blasted the plans.

Shortsighted

She said: “We think it’s very shortsighted of them. It’s going to put the traffic on the other side of the road and on a blind bend.”

Mrs Tyas agrees that something needs to be done.

She explained: “There’s a bend in the road and when people are parking on the western side the traffic coming from Worth Park Avenue can’t see round the parked cars.

“Coming from either direction you can’t see round the corner and you can potentially meet an HGV coming from Tesco Express at Peterhouse Parade.

“It encourages people to go fast to get through where the parked cars are.

‘And with the (nearby) schools you get all the parents walking their little children down Grattons Drive, and cars do mount the pavement. It’s dangerous.”

Mrs Tyas believes the current plan is “ridiculous”. She added: “The proposals are completely and utterly stupid. Whoever came up with them needs their brain tested.

‘All it will do is push the problem from one side to the road to the other. Itrs crackers.

“It’s a complete waste of time and taxpayers’ money” Mrs Taylor added: “They say the parked cars will slow traffic down but they won’t – they just make people speed up.

‘And it’s a very busy road. We have large lorries using it, and they go on the pavement.”

But, while they welcome the reduced speed limit, some parents are worried the yellow lines will leave even fewer places to park.

Kate Bagshaw. who lives in Ferndown, Pound Hill, and has two children at the school, said: “I have no choice but to drive, because I work. “The parking situation is unbelievable. People dump their cars on corners. They block in home owners. “The double yellow lines will make it even more of a joke. People are parking badly now. It will get 50 times worse.”

Double yellow lines are being painted on sections of Grattons Drive, Farmleigh Close, Home Close, Pembroke Road and- Peterhouse Parade, while a single yellow line will be painted on sections of Farmleigh Close.

With the school due to increase in size, Mrs Bagshaw cannot see an end to the parking problems and she also voiced concerns about delivery lorries performing three point turns having visited the shops on Peterhouse Parade.

Problems

She said: “There are definitely problems with lorries – I often see them in the morning.
“The drivers can’t.see everything (around them) and I’ve seen them mounting kerbs.”
Emma Drew would like to see a lollipop lady employed, as well as a 20mph speed limit.
She said: “Traffic is a big problem outside our school. Something definitely needs to be done about it.

“People park irresponsibly and dangerously and people drive far too fast along Grattons Drive.” The school has made efforts to encourage parents to cycle to school with their children.

Head teacher Anne Holmes said: “Our school and parents work closely together for the safety of all members of the local community “We welcome any measures that support the safety of our children on their way, to and from school.

“Our school travel plan encourages pupils and their parents to walk, scooter or bike to school to help alleviate the congestion that can occur around school entrances.”

The speed bumps will be in the shape of a road hump spanning the width of Grattons Drive and two speed cushions, which have gaps either side, near Peterhouse Parade.

A date has not yet been set for when the work will start, although it will be in this financial year.

A POUND HILL resident says parking is still a ‘nightmare’ on Worth Park Avenue and wants the council to step up proposals to tackle the issue.

In March, the Observer reported how dozens of commuters returned to their cars to find yellow advisory notices (pictured) from Sussex Police placed on their windscreens in a bid to deter people from parking near a bus stop.

Drivers travelling up Worth Park Avenue from the roundabout find it difficult to see past the parked cars and have to venture the other side of the road to squeeze past them into the path of oncoming traffic, which residents say is dangerous.

West Sussex County Council announced it was unveiling proposals for double yellow lines on the stretch of road and a controlled parking zone covering several roads in Pound Hill.

The scheme was discussed and agreed by the East Crawley County Local Committee on May 23 but, almost a month after the meeting, resident Barbara Talman, 79, from Pound Hill, said nothing has been done.

She said: “The other day I went up there and counted 30 cars parked on that little stretch of the road.

“I have had two near misses driving up there and it is so dangerous having to pull out on to the side of oncoming traffic. You cannot see past the cars and if a bus or lorry is coming the other way you’ve had it.

“I don’t understand why the council are not doing anything about it. I have spoken to the police and they say it is the council’s responsibility and yet they do nothing. Are they waiting for a fatal accident to happen?

“It is getting worse and worse. There is a bus stop there and now cars are even parking in that. That is illegal parking. “I think the council needs to act before an accident happens.”

Leader of Crawley Borough Council Cllr Bob Lanzer (Con, Pound Hill South and Worth) said: The yellow line proposals were approved by the East Crawley County Local Committee and they will go ahead. There will also be a cycle route down Worth Park Avenue to Three Bridges Station.”
The roads where parking restrictions are proposed are Alicia Avenue, Clive Way, Crawley Lane, Hastings Road, Moat Walk, Mount Close, Pearson Road, Saunders Close, Worth Road, Worth Road, Access Road, and Worth Park Avenue Service Road. Yellow lines could appear on Bycroft Way, Cobbett Close, Milton Mount Avenue, St Mary’s Drive and Worth Park Avenue.

A spokesman for the county council said it was aiming to start work in October. The spokesman added: “Work will start as soon as possible but it will take some time. It is not just a case of marking on a plan where to put a sign and then ordering it.

“We are aiming for October at the earliest for something could happen. We cannot rush through lines before this date as it would be unenforceable.

“In the meantime there is nothing we can do apart from liaising with Sussex Police to take action against any dangerously parked vehicles.”

YELLOW lines and parking permits are a step closer to being brought in to stop commuters clogging up Pound Hill streets.

Members of the East Crawley County Local Committee approved proposals to introduce a controlled parking zone (CPZ) to ten roads at a meeting on January 17.

Residents in the affected streets will be written to in the spring so their opinions can be sought.

The plan is for a time limit, restricting how long certain drivers can park there.

Limited

Shoppers would be able to stop for a limited time, while residents could pay for permits and visitors’ vouchers for longer stays.

Yellow lines are also likely to be introduced in certain areas to combat inconsiderate parking. Traffic wardens would enforce the new restrictions.

The roads are all to the south of Worth Park Avenue and West Sussex County Council has received a number of calls on the issue.

The problem is that the roads are being used by commuters travelling from Three Bridges station and parking all day.

Crawley Lane and nearby streets also become dangerously congested when parents pick up and drop off children at Pound Hifi infant and junior schools.

Bob Lanzer, a member of the committee that approved the plans, said: “I can think of some roads, Clive Way jumps to mind, where there is a lot of inconsiderate commuter parking.

Effective

“Controlled parking zones have proved to be really successful in Crawley, those existing in Three Bridges, Southgate and West Green have been very effective.”

Fellow committee member Bob Burgess added: “There is quite a serious parking issue in Pound Hill. It is a similar situation to what we have in Three Bridges on the other side of the railway line. “The problem in Pound Hill is commuters parking in residential roads all day long. This obviously reduces the availability of parking for residents.”

The initial CPZ proposals have been prepared after an initial public consultation last March. This involved letters being sent to 317 local residents in affected roads.

A total of 112 responded, with 73 in favour of some form of controlled parking zone, 34 happy with existing arrangements and five giving comments without offering a view either way.